Hoover City Council sets hearings to discuss 2019 budget

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The Hoover City Council is holding hearings next week to review needs for each city department in preparation for passing a fiscal 2019 budget.

The hearings are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21, and Thursday, Aug. 23. Department heads will provide council members with an overview of their budget needs for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Here is the schedule for the hearings:

Tuesday, Aug. 21:

9 a.m. — Budget overview

9:30 a.m. — Municipal Court

10 a.m. — Public Library

11 a.m. — Fire Department

Noon — Lunch

12:30 p.m. — Police Department

1:30 p.m. — Mayor’s office

2 p.m. — Metropolitan Complex

3 p.m. — Parks and Recreation

Thursday, Aug. 23:

9 a.m. — Inspection Services

9:15 a.m. — Building Services

9:30 a.m. — Human Resources

9:45 a.m. — City Clerk’s office

10 a.m. — Revenue Department

10:15 a.m. — Purchasing Department

10:30 a.m. — City Treasurer

10:45 a.m. — Fleet Management

11:15 a.m. — Public Works

11:45 a.m. — Lunch

12:15 p.m. — 911 Communications

1:15 p.m. — Engineering Department

2:15 p.m. — City Administrator’s office

3:15 p.m. — Finance Department

3:45 p.m. — Information Technology

This schedule is subject to change, depending on how long department heads take to give their presentations and how many questions council members have. Some discussions take longer than time allotted on the schedule, and others take less time.

Once the budget hearings are over, the mayor will fine tune his budget request before presenting it officially to the council for consideration.

The original 2018 budget approved last year included almost $208 million in expenses, including $110 million out of the city’s general fund, $19.5 million from a special revenue fund and $78 million out of the capital projects fund.

Since then, the budget has been amended to expect almost $215 million in expenses, including $111 million out of the city's general fund, $20.9 million from the special revenue fund and $82.7 million out of the capital projects fund.

This post was updated at 5:16 p.m. with new figures for the original 2018 budget that include money that carried over from 2017, as well more updated budget numbers since multiple budget amendments have been passed.